J&B commits to empowering women and small business owners

In an ongoing bid to empower both women and small businesses, Diageo’s whisky brand J&B, has released its latest TV commercial using creative entrepreneurs from its enterprise development project, The J&B Hive as well as one of South Africa’s leading female directors, Jeana Theron. The advert is a depiction of musicians, fashion designers and artists working together to eventually culminate in an artistic representation of the J&B logo. The celebrated theme is that together, we can do things better; speaking to the very nature of the J&B brand which celebrates the power of collaboration.

J&B is a brand that was of itself born through the collaboration of an Italian named Giacamo Justerini and an Englishman named Alfred Brookes. It is currently celebrating more than 250 years of history and tells the story of the good that can happen when people work together. ‘J&B is a catalyst for creative entrepreneurship in South Africa and is committed to uplifting the next generation of change makers. We wanted to create a TVC that incorporated our very own member entrepreneurs from The J&B Hive in a bid to empower and collaborate with them,’ said Lyndon Govender, Portfolio Manager at Diageo South Africa.

The J&B Hive is a creative incubator and enterprise development project by J&B and Diageo SA which aims to empower creative entrepreneurs with equity-free investment and mentorship. ‘The result has been an ad that doesn’t just preach collaboration, but in fact lives it too,’ said Govender. In support of Diageo’s global Free The Bid campaign which aims to empower women in the film industry, J&B chose Jeana Theron to direct the TVC, one of its biggest productions to date. Her creative flair and vast experience in the industry made her an obvious choice.

Theron is a fierce advocate for gender progression and believes that the film industry is still preferential towards males. ‘Women are incredibly hard workers and notoriously more in touch with their emotions; which in the creative industry, is great for storytelling. J&B and Diageo’s support for women in the film industry is a much-needed step for corporate South Africa. I hope that more brands will follow in their footsteps by choosing the best person for the job; regardless of their gender,’ said Jeana Theron.